A lot more happened than just Kyle Larson winning at Martinsville.
Exhausted Elliott Returns With Top-10 Finish
An exhausted Chase Elliott sat down beside his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on pit road and conversed with Bubba Wallace after climbing from his car at Martinsville Speedway.
After a six-week absence due to a broken left leg, Elliott had just produced a top-10 finish in probably one of the warmest races this year. When Elliott exited his car after 400 laps the thermostat showed 75 degrees and he admitted sitting on the couch the last six weeks “probably hurt me” more than anything.
“We struggled really bad, honestly, for the first of every run but the last one,” Elliott said. “We finally got it to go there at the end. I was able to make some passes and do some things that I didn’t think I was gonna be capable of doing, or at least fixing it to that degree here at the race track. So, I was pleasantly surprised by that.”
Elliott said a top-10 finish in his first event since the second race of the season was something to not be “too bummed out about.”
Kyle Larson, who put the No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet in victory lane at Martinsville for the first time since 1984, said having Elliott back at the track was beneficial for the entire Hendrick organization.
“He always brings something a little different to the comments between all four of us,” Larson said. “I think he challenges us all, drivers and crew chiefs and engineers, to think more. He does a very good job of explaining what he feels. Even between changes, they’ll pit, make an adjustment in practice and then he can read that adjustment pretty quickly and tell if it’s better or worse.”
Hamlin Unhappy After First top-5
Hamlin finished fourth Sunday.
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Denny Hamlin’s season hadn’t gone as expected until Sunday at Martinsville where he has recorded five victories during his career.
With only two top-10 finishes entering Sunday’s NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway, Hamlin desperately needed a top-five finish and he got it at his home track. He led once for 36 laps enroute to a fourth-place finish, but he wasn’t happy.
“The package was terrible,” Hamlin said. “It’s either the package or the tires. You can’t pass. Next Gen racing is all about strategy, execution on pit road – that’s who wins. Rarely does the car that dominates or the best car win simply because you can’t control the race when you need to. At least we couldn’t.”
Gibbs Top 10 Streak Ends
Gibbs finished 18th Sunday.
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Entering Sunday’s NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway, Ty Gibbs possessed the longest top-10 finishing streak this season with four. However, that ended with his 18th-place finish.
Wet Tires
Several NASCAR Cup drivers liked the wet tires’ performance in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway, but that wasn’t the case for Truck champion Zane Smith.
“I think we should stay racing in the dry, especially on ovals,” Smith said. “I definitely felt like we were just the test dummies.”
Keyword: NASCAR Martinsville Notebook: Elliott Exhausted, Hamlin Sad, Gibbs Streak Ends